SPRING!!!!!

I'm so excited you guys!! I ran OUTSIDE this morning in a skirt and a long sleeved tech T. Half way through the run I was ready to strip off the shirt and run in my bra. My run went rather well considering I'm still a little stuffy. My time was back to normal and not the extra 15 minutes I saw on Wednesday. I'm very hopeful that tomorrows 10-15 mile run will go well.

On the dating front.....Last nights date did not happen. Not sure what went wrong but Jason says he "got into something." I'm not really sure what that means. I'm 50/50 on giving him a 3rd at bat. Tired of the whole thing but kind of interested in what the something was. I'll leave it in his court. I might have a 2nd date with a guy named Rob this weekend. Nothing spectacular but nothing hideous either. He is a bit of a talker and sometimes I'm tempted to say "It's quiet time," but at least there's no awkward silences. In the batting lineup is  also Douglas and Barney. Douglas is older, a runner and we have A LOT in common. Barney is younger, a short distance runner but bikes, share common interests but I'm just not sure I'm attracted to him. He is quiet a bit darker than I like my men. EH, we'll see.

A Clever Title

For the past couple of days this is how I've woken up:

Squished into about 4 inches of my queen size bed. And if you try to move her, she bites!! She might not take up the whole bed but laying in the center prevents me from rolling over and finding the cool spot on the other side.

My run was 3 miles long on the treadmill. 3 miles that should have taken me 33 or so minutes but ended up taking 45-50. Treadmill always takes me longer than outside but that was ridiculous! I did get a good hour long bike ride in.

I have a date tonight with Jason, aka Radio Boy. We'll see what happens. A girls gotta eat.
*Sorry this is such a sucky post. Hopefully, my life will be interesting again in the coming spring.

AGH!!

Should be "Out Sick this Week"

I'm not going to do my usual Monday post, where I list what I have going for training this week and what I did last week.

I have been sick for a WEEK with an upper respiratory infection. I'm 99% sure it is/was viral.I'm never sure when to work out and when not to when I'm sick. Is it better to rest or sweat it out? This last sickness I mostly felt fine, energetically that is. But breathing was the main issue. I did most of my runs but shorter. Friday was 4 miles instead of 5. Saturday was 8 miles instead of 12, on the treadmill. I tried running outside and the cold air was too much! And the 4 I was supposed to run yesterday never happened. But that's all I did. No swimming. No biking. No weight training.

I'm hoping to get back to my normal training tomorrow with a 4 mile easy run. Should be hills but I don't want to push it.

Here is a good article and a rule of thumb for running when sick.Should you run?

ACCHO!

Hola my friends. It's beautiful outside and I mentally can not wait to get out of work and go run my 5 miles. My lungs may have different ideas. I woke Wednesday with a slight cough but thought nothing of it. I actually did my run and bike that day. Yesterday, however, my chest hurt terribly. Walking up one flight of stairs was a chore and the coughing was worse. I've been throwing everything at it in the hopes that I can keep it contained and minimally disrupt my life. Everything includes orange juice, grapefruit, zicam, tea, cough syrup and rest. I canceled a date last night in favor of trying to head this off. I don't have time to get sick until maybe 3 weeks out but it would be best to hold off till July. I'm feeling slightly better today!

*My cat is not liking me being sick. She runs and hides every time I cough or sneeze.

Dating and Training

I love Juanita! Thanks Bloggess!

With all the holidays behind us dating and training have taken off. It kind of sucks for me, though. My down training time is late fall to late winter. Basically, November to March. I have ample time to be cozy on the couch, hit up the latest and greatest restaurants and catch up on movies. The problem is NO body wants to start dating at this time. You've got Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and the dreaded Valentine's Day. And for me, my birthday. The holiday season is fraught with perils. Do you invite them to Thanksgiving dinner? Is Christmas really the right time to spring a racially diverse boyfriend on your racially conservative family? Do you get them a present? Do you want to start the New Year with THIS guy? And Valentine's day? Please!

I get it! But now that Valentine's day is safely behind us the dates have come out of the wood work! I had two first dates this past weekend. And, if I had been motivated I'm sure I could have shoehorned in Radio Boy Jason (currently in Maintenance Mode). Issue, all that time in heels wrecked my long run this weekend. My days now consist of training. Ok, it did previously to this post but I was a little more flexible with it. With races zooming up on me I can't be anymore. My life would be infinitely easier with someone who understands and can partake in my training. I have found a couple recently but the one I'm most interested in has stuck me in Maintenance Mode. It hurts, people. But I won't fight the system. Much.

OH! My point is that just as I'm ratcheting up my training, dating too has ratcheted up! They are directly proportional. Maybe, I'm just hotter?

Review Week 5 and Upcoming Week 6

Week 6

Ugh!! Last week was going so well. I did all my short runs and my hills. I got to the pool at least once and I did 2 bike rides. My problem last week was my long run. Saturday dawned cold and very blustery. 30 mph wind gusts! I, therefore, postponed my run in the hopes that Sunday would be better. It was not. Instead of heading outside for a 10 mile run I did my run on the treadmill. And I only got in 5 miles before my legs gave up. My feet and legs have been sore ever since and I think it even goes back to Friday. I gave myself 2 rest days and will be hitting the hills tomorrow. I need to get this back on track or I won't be ready for my full in May!

I'm not sure if I'll get 12 in this Saturday. I have a lot of things going on this week, like friends in from Cali. But, I'm going to give it a good try!

HALF IRON MAN!!!

I've been sitting on this post for awhile but with radio spots, dating and training, writing it has been on the back burner.

I've officially signed up for the Pocono's Half Iron Man. I'm super excited for it and extremely terrified all at once. This will be the second year that the Iron Man competition has held a triathlon in Stroudsburg, PA. It's a qualifier for the world 1/2 Iron Man championships in Las Vegas and while I don't think my time will be great you never know what could happen.

While shopping around for a 1/2IM  to do I thought the Muncie, IN would be ideal. The problem though, is that I have no idea how these are run and what the set up is. I, therefore, will be volunteering at this 1/2IM to get a feel for the race and to calm my anxiety a little.

The swim will be a wave start; so much nicer then en masse

When I chose my race I knew I wanted something in the fall. It won't be too hot nor too cold. I wanted something about a month after my short distance TRIs and I wanted I freshwater swim. I don't suppose biking and running with a salt crusted body would be all that great. These parameters left me with several options, Branson, MO, Augusta, GA, Austin TX, or Stroudsburg, PA. I ruled out Austin, too far and I didn't want to deal with shipping my bike. The others were a bit of a drive and I honestly could have done any of them. I settled on Stroudsburg simply because it was closest to me. The bike routes were equally hilly in all of them. The run route, although, seemed a more flat in Stroudsburg. And, let's face it, that's when you want go easy. What sold it really was that the swim in Stroudsburg went with the current. I could potentially gain minutes there. POCONO'S it is then!

I will be swimming in the Delaware water gap area

After signing up I discovered that the swim was canceled for the first race due to an elevated river and strong currents. They also then did the bike portion as a time trial and the whole race was extremely short. Well, compared to the 70.3 it was supposed to be. I'm hopeful this year will be a full course and will be prepared to ride the hell out of some hills.

One thing I am sad about is that I will be unable to the Akron Half Marathon. They have the best expo and it's a great race. Plus, it was a measuring stick to see my running progress!